Increased Reliance on Carbohydrates for Aerobic Exercise in Highland Andean Leaf-Eared Mice, but Not in Highland Lima Leaf-Eared Mice

Exercise is an important performance trait in mammals and variation in aerobic capacity and/or substrate allocation during submaximal exercise may be important for survival at high altitude. Comparisons between lowland and highland populations is a fruitful approach to understanding the mechanisms f...

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Autores principales: Marie-Pierre Schippers, Oswaldo Ramirez, Margarita Arana, Grant B. McClelland
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: MDPI AG 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/d872bae6823e40059cffd82de179fb7c
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Sumario:Exercise is an important performance trait in mammals and variation in aerobic capacity and/or substrate allocation during submaximal exercise may be important for survival at high altitude. Comparisons between lowland and highland populations is a fruitful approach to understanding the mechanisms for altitude differences in exercise performance. However, it has only been applied in very few highland species. The leaf-eared mice (LEM, genus <i>Phyllotis</i>) of South America are a promising taxon to uncover the pervasiveness of hypoxia tolerance mechanisms. Here we use lowland and highland populations of Andean and Lima LEM (<i>P. andium</i> and <i>P. limatus</i>), acclimated to common laboratory conditions, to determine exercise-induced maximal oxygen consumption (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mover><mi mathvariant="normal">V</mi><mo stretchy="false">˙</mo></mover></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>O<sub>2</sub>max), and submaximal exercise metabolism. Lowland and highland populations of both species showed no difference in <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mover><mi mathvariant="normal">V</mi><mo stretchy="false">˙</mo></mover></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>O<sub>2</sub>max running in either normoxia or hypoxia. When run at 75% of <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mover><mi mathvariant="normal">V</mi><mo stretchy="false">˙</mo></mover></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>O<sub>2</sub>max, highland Andean LEM had a greater reliance on carbohydrate oxidation to power exercise. In contrast, highland Lima LEM showed no difference in exercise fuel use compared to their lowland counterparts. The higher carbohydrate oxidation seen in highland Andean LEM was not explained by maximal activities of glycolytic enzymes in the gastrocnemius muscle, which were equivalent to lowlanders. This result is consistent with data on highland deer mouse populations and suggests changes in metabolic regulation may explain altitude differences in exercise performance.